How Can African Nations Effectively Develop a Space Industry? Positioning Ghana Using the Dual Double Diamond Model

Abstract

Although the economic and socioeconomic returns of space-based applications have been well documented in space-faring nations, African nations are yet to leverage space-assets effectively. Given the potentially significant returns from developing a strong space industry, an assessment of capabilities and guidelines on how to effectively leverage space technologies can set the foundation for nations to build policies. Using the dual double diamond model, developed by Cho

et al., Ghana's competitive capability in the space industry is positioned relative to Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa.

The domestic and international components of the dual double diamond framework were assessed with a simplified quantitative model based on interval scales. Each dimension was broken down into causal variable components, which were then quantified through measurable proxy variables and weighted by space industry members. Results indicate that Ghana is neither at a real disadvantage nor at an advantage toward its competitors, apart from South Africa, which ranks more than two points higher than Ghana. The development from traditional space to “NewSpace” has expanded opportunities available to Ghana and can help to mitigate some of its shortcomings

Introduction

According to the African Space Strategy published by the African Union in 2017, although Africa represents 20% of the Earth's land surface area, more than the United States, India, China, and Europe put together, those regions spent more than 500 times the amount on space activities in 2013; however, the African continent as a whole spent less than 0.2% of the global space budget in the same period.¹ Although the uses of space-assets and satellite technologies now underpin much of our modern life,² the penetration of space-enabled solutions is lacking in Africa. The economic and socioeconomic returns of space-based applications^3–5 can be received by African nations that are able to leverage space-assets effectively. Space-enabled solutions can be an effective way for African nations to address the socioeconomic problems they face.

This article positions Ghana relative to its African neighbors and assesses its capability in developing a competitive space industry. Competitiveness is defined in this context as the capability of a nation to engage in value-added activities, sustaining these value-added activities over long periods in spite of international competition.⁶

The “dual double diamond model,” developed by Cho et al.,⁷ provides a framework to examine the competitiveness of states and industries, and to explore the reasons behind the advantages. The framework was developed as a means to identify the sources of international competitive advantage and has since been applied in several contexts and industries.

The dual double diamond model analyzes the domestic and international components of physical factors, namely: “factor conditions,” “country strategy, structure and rivalry,” “related and supporting industries,” and “demand conditions”; as well as human factors: “workers,” “politicians and bureaucrats,” “entrepreneurs,” and “professional managers and engineers,” seen in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

The dual double diamond model (adapted from Cho et al.¹³).

This approach will be used to analyze the Ghanaian space industry in the context of its regional neighbors, to draw comparisons to other African space nations, and to eventually form a basis for appropriate policy recommendations that can be implemented by the Ghanaian government.

Literature Review

In his seminal work, “The Competitive Advantage of Nations,” released in 1990, Michael E. Porter presented a theoretical foundation to assess the competitiveness of nations. He argued that “national prosperity is created, not inherited.”⁸ Porter aimed at challenging the conventional wisdom at the time, which highlighted microeconomic factors of production such as labor costs and interest rates as the most important determinants of competitiveness.

Porter argued that wealth was governed by productivity (the value of output produced by a unit of labor or capital), which, in turn, was governed by the national and regional environment for competition. Porter viewed competition and competitive advantage through the lens of sustained national productivity, which is driven by firms innovating on the local level.

In “The Competitive Advantage of Nations,” Porter developed and presented his framework for assessing the competitive advantage of nations or industries, labeled the “diamond framework.” This framework identifies four determining factors of competitive advantage, namely, “factor conditions,” “demand conditions,” “related and supporting industries,” and “firm strategy, structure and rivalry.”

Although Porter's model was a landmark in the academic debate on national competitiveness, it also attracted a lot of critique from various sources. Several studies based on Porter's diamond model noted that it failed to adequately explain the industry or nation under consideration, especially with regards to smaller economies.^9,10

The criticisms mainly focused on Porter's treatment of “Multinational Enterprises” (MNEs), inbound “Foreign Direct Investment” (FDI), and the role of the government.

In response to some of the inadequacies of Porter's original diamond, new models were developed as an extension and evolution. The generalized double diamond approach developed by Moon et al.,⁶ and the nine-factor model developed by Cho¹¹ and Cho and Moon¹² aimed at expanding the initial work done by Rugman and at generalizing it for small nations.

The nine-factor model argued that human factors mobilize physical factors and thus needed to be considered separately, giving a clearer perspective on the different sources of competitive advantage; whereas the generalized double diamond model argued that the success of an industry depended on both the domestic diamond and foreign components.

Although both the nine-factor method and the generalized double diamond model addressed some of the significant weaknesses identified in Porter's original model, both approaches in isolation were still incomplete. This weakness in both models was recognized by the original authors of both the nine-factor model and the double diamond model, Dong-Sung Cho and Hwy-Chang Moon; leading to the development of the dual double diamond approach,^13,14 which considered the effects of both domestic and international, physical, and human factors. The scope of each of the models presented so far can be seen in Figure 2.

Fig. 2.

Extensions to Porter's original diamond model (adapted from Cho et al.¹³). DH, domestic human factors; DP, domestic physical factors; IH, international human factors; IP, international physical factors.

Methodology

The dual double diamond model assesses a nation's domestic and international (the impact of international and multinational activities) position along eight dimensions, namely: “factor conditions”; “demand conditions”; “related and supporting industries”; “country strategy, structure and rivalry”; “workers”; “politicians and bureaucrats”; “entrepreneurs”; and “professional managers and engineers.”

“Factor conditions” as defined by Porter⁸ represent a nation's factors of production and related infrastructure that enables the nation to compete in any given industry. Included in this definition is the presence of skilled labor, capital, and natural resources such as land.

“Demand conditions” represent “the nature of home-market demand for the industry's product or service”⁸; in essence, this describes the tastes and requirements of home buyers related to price, availability, and quality.

“Related and supporting industries” relates to the presence or absence of networks that support the main industry. Supplier industries and distributors that interact with the targeted industry are an example of related and supporting industries and are especially important if they are already internationally competitive.

“Firm strategy, structure, and rivalry” concerns the nature of domestic competition and how it influences national competitiveness, with a more competitive domestic environment stimulating international competitiveness.⁸ As such, “firm strategy, structure, and rivalry” describes the local conditions of the nation that enables the creation and operation of companies, as well as the nature of domestic rivalry and competition.

The “human” factors, namely “workers,” “politicians and bureaucrats,” “professional managers and engineers,” and “entrepreneurs” refer to the quality of human capital of the nation, from unskilled and skilled generic labor, political human capital, qualified professionals, and the entrepreneurial work force of the nation.

To structure the model, the eight dimensions were broken down into causal variable components, which were then quantified by using empirical data through measurable (domestic and international) proxy variables. The following Table 1 shows the proxy variables used for each causal variable, along with the source.

Table 1.

Breakdown of the Dual Double Diamond Model Variables

Causal Variable	Proxy Variable	Source	Period
Factor conditions
Capital resources (factors of production wanted for their ability to help in producing other goods)	Gross domestic savings (% of GDP)	World Bank	2017
	Domestic credit to private sector (% of GDP)	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
	Credit rating	Trading Economies	2017
	Inbound FDI (% of GDP)	World Bank	2017
Knowledge resources (knowledge assets that support the production of goods and services)	R&D expenditure (% of GDP)	WEF Global Competitiveness Report/World Bank	2017
	Diversity of workforce	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
	Scientific publications (H Index)	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
	Patent applications (applications/million pop)	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
Infrastructure (required national elements for long-term national viability)	Road connectivity index	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
	Secure internet servers (per one million people)	World Bank	2017
	Electric power transmission and distribution losses (% of output)	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
	Internet users (% of population)	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
Demand conditions
Size of demand (size of the potential market)	GDP per capita (current US$)	World Bank	2017
	Imports of goods and services (% of GDP)	World Bank	2017
	Exports of goods and services (% of GDP)	World Bank	2017
	Foreign market size	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
Quality of demand (impact of market sophistication and buyer requirements)	Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people)	World Bank	2017
	Buyer sophistication	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
	HDI	UN HDI	2017
	Internet bandwidth (kb/s)	UN HDI	2017
Related and supporting industries
Aviation/aerospace	Aerospace exports (% of GDP)	CIA World Factbook	2017
Aviation/aerospace	Aerospace manufacturing attractiveness	PWC “Aerospace Manufacturing Attractiveness Rankings.”	2017
Banking and finance	Soundness of banks	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
Banking and finance	Central bank discount rate (%)	CIA World Factbook/Trading Economies	2017
ICT	ICT goods exports (% of total goods exports)	UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTADSTAT)	2017
ICT	ICT Development Index	International Telecommunications Union	2017
Manufacturing	Industrial production growth rate (%)	World Bank	2017
Manufacturing	Value added (% of GDP)	World Bank	2017
Mining	Share of GDP (%)	Trading Economies Data/PWC/Deloitte Invest in Ghana 2017	2017
Mining	Exports (%)	National Statistics	2017
Telecommunication	Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people)	World Bank	2017
Telecommunication	Communications, computer, etc. (% of service exports)	World Bank	2017
Country strategy, structure, and rivalry
The nation's conditions governing how companies can be created, organized, and managed, as well as the nature of domestic rivalry and competition	Corporate tax rate (%)	National Revenue Authorities	2017
	Ease of doing business index	World Bank	2017
	Global competitiveness rank	Global Competitiveness Report 2017–2018/World Economic Forum	2017
	Exports of high technology products (% of manufactured exports)	World Bank	2017
Workers (general labor)
Quantity of labor force (size and impact of potential general workforce)	Labor force	World Bank	2017
	Labor force participation rate (% ages 15 and older)	UN HDI	2017
	Annual population growth rate (%)	World Bank	2017
	Life expectancy at birth (years)	UN HDI	2017
Quality of labor force (skill of general workforce)	Literacy rate (% ages 15 and older)	UN HDI	2006–2016
	Mean years of schooling	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
	Education index	UN HDI	2017
	Wage and salaried workers (% of total employment) (modelled ILO estimate)	World Bank	2017
Politicians and bureaucrats
The nation's administrative and political workforce	Index of African Governance	Ibrahim Index of African Governance	2017
The nation's administrative and political workforce	Corruption perception index	Transparency International	2017
Entrepreneurs
The nation's entrepreneurial workforce	Business start-up costs (% GNI per capita)	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
	Time needed to start a business (days)	World Bank	2017
	Capacity for innovation	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
	Growth of innovative companies	WEF Global Competitiveness Report	2017
Professional managers and engineers
Aerospace specialists	No. of aerospace engineers	LinkedIn	2017
Aerospace specialists	Aerospace specialists % of labor force	LinkedIn	2017
IT specialists	No. of IT professionals	LinkedIn	2017
IT specialists	IT specialists % of labor force	LinkedIn	2017

International proxy variables are bolded.

FDI, Foreign Direct Investment; GDP, gross domestic product; GNI, gross national income; HDI, human development index; ICT, information and communication technology; ILO, International Labor Organization.

To determine the competitive advantage of the Ghanaian space industry, the nine dimensions of the dual double diamond model were calculated with a simplified quantitative model based on interval scales developed originally by Cartwright.¹⁵ Under Cartwright's methodology, the competitive advantage of a nation is determined by calculating the difference between the actual contribution of each factor and the optimal value possible for the causal variable, itemized by different proxy variables.

To determine the relative weights of the causal variables, space industry members and experts were surveyed. The respondents ranged from members of academia, science, and businesses, primarily based in Europe, with African space industry experts and scientists also surveyed.

The survey was administered via the online questionnaire tool “SurveyMonkey” and included 15 questions assessing the impact of each variable of the dual double diamond model on the space industry as a whole. A five-point Likert scale was used to assess the scores for all questions, with an extra comment box provided for the respondents to further explain their choices and provide context. The questionnaire was tested with a few space industry consultants to ensure ease of understanding and to improve the content and clarity of the survey. The survey was distributed primarily through e-mail between August and November 2018. In total, 287 space industry members and experts were contacted; however, 49 e-mails did not reach their destination. A total of 65 responses were received, yielding a response rate of 27%.

The results of the questionnaire were used to weight the impact of each causal variable through the proxy variables. For the measurement of the proxy variables, an interval scale with a minimum of 0 and a maximum value of 1 was developed: 1 was assigned to the region with the highest value, and a relative ratio in terms of percentage was given to the region with the lower value. For causal variables determined by more than one proxy variable, the arithmetical average was calculated.

As previously elaborated by Cho et al.,¹³ a nation's competitiveness is more meaningful when compared with nations with similar characteristics, as competitiveness implies a relative position among competitors in the same competitive group. Due to the limited number of established competitors in the African space industry, the countries with more than three satellites in orbit, Algeria (6), Egypt (4), Nigeria (6), and South Africa (6), were chosen as the reference nations.

Results and Discussion

Factor Conditions

Ghana's domestic “factor conditions” seen in Table 2 rank second worst among the assessed African space nations, with its international ranking somewhat better, coming in third.

Table 2.

Results of the Factor Condition Indicators of African Space Countries

Factor Conditions	Ghana	Algeria	Egypt	Nigeria	South Africa
Domestic score	3.62	4.20	4.53	3.50	7.85
International score	4.01	3.76	4.31	3.50	6.91
Total score	3.82	3.98	4.42	3.50	7.38

Given the high financial costs associated with access to space,¹⁶ a nation's resources play a critical role in enabling the development of a space industry. High and sustained levels of capital can help establish the requisite infrastructure, knowledge resources, and networks in all sectors of the space ecosystem.

Ghana's scores reflect the challenges that it faces, and “factor conditions” play a key role in enabling space activities. Although Ghana's base, on which competence can be built, is lower than that of its competitors, with the new developments in NewSpace¹⁷ there are still opportunities for Ghana to develop an edge. Although historically, large investments in traditional space infrastructure with launch capabilities and rocket building was necessary, in the NewSpace environment, industries can be built without developing or duplicating existing infrastructures. Luxembourg,¹⁸ for example, is creating a new type of space industry leveraging new space trends and creating opportunities for added-value space actors rather than space hardware itself.

Ghana can follow these developments by focusing on small satellite and CubeSat applications in low Earth orbit (LEO), both of which are cheaper to manufacture and launch than traditional satellites yet provide similar capabilities. Small- and CubeSat applications extend across several industries and can be used as a tool to address some of the issues faced by Ghana. Agriculture represents a large share of Ghana's economic sector; however, it is still plagued by poor rural infrastructure, low soil fertility, insufficient rural finance, and other challenges. Earth observation satellites can help improve response time to identified problems, as well as provide more in-depth information about soil properties to farmers to help improve their productivity. Other environmental challenges, such as the rising demand on natural resources, growing population, climate change, and resource management, can be mitigated through the use of Earth observation satellites in LEO, which could monitor the environmental impact on a local scale.

Aside from resource management, satellites in LEO can also support weather and climate monitoring, providing timely information of temperature, rainfall, vegetation cover, and extreme weather events in advance to remote areas. Earth observation applications have a myriad of uses on infrastructure, urban developments, environmental challenges, and security challenges.

The launch of the Ghanasat-1 in 2017, an Earth observation and technology demonstration mission, by Ghanaian engineers at the All Nations University College provides a template that Ghana can follow.

Demand Conditions

Domestic demand conditions relate foremost to the government and public services. The size of this depends on the political willingness to use products from space assets seen in Table 3. Ghana ranks last domestically among all of the other African space nations, clearly demonstrating a key challenge that Ghana faces.

Table 3.

Results of the Demand Condition Indicators of African Space Countries

Demand Conditions	Ghana	Algeria	Egypt	Nigeria	South Africa
Domestic score	3.66	4.32	3.86	4.37	5.71
International score	4.36	4.45	3.86	3.13	6.12
Total score	4.01	4.39	3.86	3.75	5.91

A low interest and demand for space-enabled solutions is slowly being addressed by the Ghanaian government. Developments have been ongoing to draft an official Ghana Space Strategy, and the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute (GSSTI), established in 2011, has been the driving force behind promoting the use of space data and applying space technologies for socioeconomic development. Ghana's involvement in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Space program, the Square-Kilometre-Array project, as well as bidding to host the African Space Centre (although rejected) highlight Ghana's drive to expand their uses and interest in space-enabled solutions.

As long as export opportunities exist, however, a lack of home demand can be mitigated, as seen with the development of Scotland's highly competitive CubeSat manufacturing sector.¹⁹ The export market can represent a large portion of company revenues,²⁰ with little dependency on government R&D or support programs. In addition, high domestic demand can foster a dependency for a segment of the industry on government-specific requirements and cycles of decisions and investments. Demand from buyers, on the other hand, challenges local development to provide solutions that are competitive and unique. Although Ghana ranks third in the international index, there is a considerable gap separating it from Egypt and Nigeria, although its distance from Algeria is not great.

Related and Supporting Industries

International competitive home-based suppliers are particularly important as they “create advantages in downstream industries.”⁸ These advantages range from providing companies with cost-effective solutions in manufacturing, to enabling innovation through close working relationships. Improved flows of information, ideas and innovations between industries and suppliers are mutually advantageous and result in novel processes.

Traditionally, aerospace, manufacturing, and telecommunications were at the core of the space industry. Large launchers and telecommunication satellites drove demand, fostering synergies between the different industries. Today, other industries such as information and communication technology (ICT) (which is a key driver of the NewSpace phenomenon), banking and finance (which is an integral component of fostering NewSpace startups), and mining (which has some applications for in-space resource utilization) have grown in importance. Advancements in both the space industry and its related industries are mutually beneficial and can help in the development of a strong, coherent ecosystem.

Although aerospace, banking and finance, ICT, manufacturing, mining, and telecommunications are all industries that support and are otherwise helpful to the space industry, the existence of all of them are not a necessary precondition to developing a competitive industry. A nation may always look externally for support. However, strengths in those industries provide added opportunity.²¹ The space service industry is strong, and if a nation already has capabilities in a certain industry, added-value opportunities can be found in those industries. Among its African space peers, Ghana ranks fourth overall, seen in Table 4, only less than a point away from first placed Algeria, emphasizing the relative closeness of the different nations.

Table 4.

Results of the Related and Supporting Industry Indicators of African Space Countries

Related and Supporting Industries	Ghana	Algeria	Egypt	Nigeria	South Africa
Domestic score	2.67	2.67	3.87	0.96	3.90
International score	3.87	5.36	3.87	3.00	3.51
Total score	3.27	4.01	3.87	1.98	3.71

Country Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry

Similar to its capabilities in related and supporting industries, Ghana's domestic conditions seen in Table 5 governing how companies can be created, organized, and managed; as well as the nature of its domestic rivalry and competition rank third overall. Although Ghana ranks higher on the international scale compared with domestically, its international advantage is only slight. Although there is only a slight comparative advantage when compared with the other nations, individually, the absolute index scores indicate strong Ghanaian capabilities and domestic structure.

Table 5.

Results of the Country Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry Indicators of African Space Countries

Country Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry	Ghana	Algeria	Egypt	Nigeria	South Africa
Domestic score	7.92	6.80	8.20	6.58	9.02
International score	5.73	5.03	4.98	5.68	10.00
Total score	6.82	5.91	6.59	6.13	9.51

The nature of domestic competition influences national competitiveness, and Porter maintained that “competitiveness in a specific industry results from convergence of the management practices and organizational modes favoured in the country and the sources of competitive advantage in the industry.”⁸ In this respect, no singular system is universally applicable; rather, each nation needs to define its own goals and characteristics.

Aside from the systems of management and its culture, the presence of competitive local rivals is a crucial impetus to the creation and sustaining of competitive advantage. Similar to the impact of local buyers and related industries, strong local rivals help stimulate innovation and efficiency. In addition, the pressure fostered by domestic competition adds a dynamic element into the industry that leads to lower costs, improved quality, and innovative processes; this is further amplified with geographic proximity.

In that regard, unified and structured legislation regarding space-related activities could help to develop a competitive local ecosystem. Ghana needs to follow the examples set by Japan, the United States, and Luxembourg, all of which have leveraged legislation to support their space ambitions. Japan's “Basic Space Law” set out in 2008 serves as the foundation of all its space activities and was complemented by structural changes with the government, whereas the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act spawned the rise of SpaceX and contributed to the dramatic fall in costs of launchers and shift to reusability concepts.

Luxembourg most recently adopted legislation regarding the ownership and commercialization of space resources as part of their larger strategy to incorporate Luxembourg into Europe's space exploration hub. Supplemented by a dedicated fund to support space exploration-related companies, Luxembourg's development of a legal framework has helped position it as the center of space exploration, and further emphasized the importance of clear and effective space legislation.

Workers

With regards to the quantity and quality of general labor, Porter talks about the requirement for advanced skills to support higher-order advantages, and specialized factors—in this case, human capital. The space sector is highly specialized and requires several high-skill workers to generate success. Low or unskilled labor, however, can be beneficial for supporting industries. Ghana ranks quite poorly in its labor force compared with the other nations, ranking second bottom both domestically and internationally, seen in Table 6.

Table 6.

Results of the Worker Indicators of African Space Countries

Workers	Ghana	Algeria	Egypt	Nigeria	South Africa
Domestic score	4.17	4.34	4.44	4.17	5.45
International score	3.29	5.02	4.71	3.02	5.61
Total score	3.73	4.68	4.57	3.59	5.53

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), unemployment has been on the rise in Ghana, with inadequate means of production highlighted as the main cause of underemployment. Labor markets are still suffering from high informal employment rates and underpaid jobs. With the youth population expanding quickly, the need for a policy for youth is paramount, and this is currently being addressed by the Ghanaian government and the Commonwealth. In this context, space arises as an additional industry and a sector that could be targeted by Ghana. By framing a policy that provides education and finances to promote space for youth, the challenges of unemployment can be partially addressed by space.

Professional Managers and Engineers

With aerospace and ICT forming the backbone of most space ambitions, technical specialists play a part in helping develop a competitive industry. These are important, especially if the national space policy and strategy focus considerably on building space-based and ground-based infrastructure.

A diverse pool of talent, however, is still important. In NewSpace, a lot of actors from different backgrounds play a part. As with general labor, however, Ghana similarly ranks poorly, coming in last both domestically and internationally seen in Table 7.

Table 7.

Results of the Professional Manager and Engineer Indicators of African Space Countries

Professional Managers and Engineers	Ghana	Algeria	Egypt	Nigeria	South Africa
Domestic score	0.89	1.72	2.82	4.60	8.22
International score	1.43	3.13	1.99	1.72	8.22
Total score	1.16	2.43	2.41	3.16	8.22

Although space-specific specialists are missing, with Ghana's involvement in the Square-Kilometre-Array project, as well as with efforts from the GSSTI, the identified lack of technical specialists is slowly being addressed. Government investment in traineeships and workshops could help in addressing this aspect.

Politicians and Bureaucrats

Ghana exhibits great strengths with regards to its politicians and bureaucrats, scoring the highest out of all other indicators, and marginally second to South Africa seen in Table 8. Ghana has long been considered one of the strongest and most stable democracies on the African continent and has had stability with free and open elections for two decades, with comparatively low levels of corruption. With strong economic ties to the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, China, India, and South Africa, Ghana is well placed to take advantage of its strong foundation.

Table 8.

Results of the Politicians and Bureaucrat Indicators of African Space Countries

Politicians and Bureaucrats	Ghana	Algeria	Egypt	Nigeria	South Africa
Domestic score	10.00	7.37	7.33	7.03	9.99
International score	9.30	7.67	7.44	6.28	10.00
Total score	9.65	7.52	7.38	6.66	9.99

The strength of its political and bureaucratic establishments can serve Ghana well in its pursuit of a strong space industry.

Entrepreneurs

Similarly, Ghana demonstrates strong capabilities in the entrepreneurship domain seen in Table 9. Since the early 2000s, Ghana has made advancements toward the development of a healthy entrepreneurship-friendly private sector. Initiatives such as the National Entrepreneurship and Innovations Plan (NEIP) demonstrate Ghana's commitment to nurturing and supporting entrepreneurs. According to the African Tech Startups Funding Report, startups in Ghana raised $22.3M in 2018.²² With the emergence of more tech hubs and startup clusters across Ghana, the future of entrepreneurship in Ghana is bright, and if this entrepreneurial drive can be directed toward space, the potential for impactful space-enabled solutions focused on the socioeconomic development of Ghana is great.

Table 9.

Results of the Entrepreneur Indicators of African Space Countries

Entrepreneurs	Ghana	Algeria	Egypt	Nigeria	South Africa
Domestic score	5.06	3.59	4.96	3.74	6.56
International score	9.29	7.31	8.24	8.64	9.77
Total score	7.17	5.45	6.60	6.19	8.16

Summary

The Table 10 compares and ranks the scores, domestically, internationally, and overall for each nation along every dimension. Ghana ranks third in both the domestic and international rankings. As evidenced by its placement in third place, Ghana is, indeed, neither at a real disadvantage nor at an advantage toward its competitors. Apart from South Africa, which ranks two points higher than the nearest competitor, Egypt, the differences in values between the other nations are very slight; with Nigeria a step lower than Egypt, Ghana, and Algeria.

Table 10.

Competitiveness Ranking of African Space Nations

Countries	Domestic		International		Overall
Countries	Score	Ranking	Score	Ranking	Score	Ranking
South Africa	7.09	1	7.52	1	7.30	1
Egypt	5.00	2	4.93	4	4.963	2
Ghana	4.75	3	5.16	3	4.955	3
Algeria	4.38	4	5.22	2	4.80	4
Nigeria	4.37	5	4.37	5	4.37	5

Conclusion

Although Ghana has demonstrated comparative weaknesses compared with other African space nations, the development from traditional space to “NewSpace” has expanded opportunities available to Ghana and can help to mitigate some of its shortcomings. Similarly, Ghana's clear comparative advantage over its neighbors in its entrepreneurial and political workforce can be leveraged to close the gap in capabilities between the African space nations. Central to this is the role of the government, which impacts all dimensions.

Ghanaian policies set out by the government, allied with Ghana's comparatively strong political workforce could result in positive externalities and benefits in all of the dimensions. With political effort, more capital and resources can be made available to space enterprises and initiatives to overcome the comparative deficiencies; similarly, the Ghanaian government can drive domestic demand for space products and services, as well as requirements. Ghanaian political activity can empower the supporting industries and create a domestic environment that promotes economic activity related to space, whereas government investment in labor training can help increase the quality of the workforce and number of specialists as well.

Although this article has demonstrated that Ghana, indeed, has some comparative advantages relative to other African space nations, in several dimensions, Ghana is only average or below average. Given this, Ghana needs to formulate its goals with regards to how competitive it aims to be on the African continent. Leadership across several space segments would require significant investment of resources and time.

Given the comparative advantages that Ghana enjoys in its entrepreneurial and political workforce, Ghana could aim at developing policy that maximizes the potential of those workforces, enabling entrepreneurial innovation and developing attractive policies and strategies regarding its space ambitions.

The majority of businesses in Ghana today are small startups, typically owned and operated solely by the proprietor, with around 46% of businesses owned by women according to the Mastercard Index of Women's Entrepreneurship. Although Ghanaian entrepreneurs still face challenges in terms of limited business knowledge, lack of mentorship and technical advice, and lack of finances, the existing entrepreneurial spirit can be harnessed for the development of space-based business and services; the challenges that are faced are mitigated by clear and efficient policies.

With its rising youth population, entrepreneurship is set to become an increasingly more important driver of economic growth in Ghana. As such, the Ghanaian government should strive to facilitate this growth by further minimizing the startup costs and fees to run and set up businesses. The digitization of administrative processes, as well as the use of ICTs can help to centralize and simplify the creation of businesses as a whole. Similarly, the creation of public funding mechanisms for startups would help bridge the financing gap, allowing more startups to survive and thrive. The Ghanaian government could also look to simplify and create more efficient laws, policies, and regulations regarding the safeguarding of intellectual property, trade secrets, and the ownership of ideas, which can act as a shield for space-based businesses.

In addition, the Ghanaian government could also look to develop demand-side policies and incentives to stimulate space-based innovation in areas of high societal needs, such as in health, agriculture, or the environment. The Ghanaian government could position itself as an anchor tenant in the industry, similar to the situation in the United States, where NASA entered into multiyear contracts with private enterprises; providing enterprises such as SpaceX with financing for innovation and reducing risks and costs for NASA. A commitment to buy space-based data and services from private enterprises in Ghana would aid the development of a commercial space market. The development of tax incentives for space-based businesses could similarly help direct entrepreneurial activity toward space, further helping to increase activity and grow the industry.

As mentioned earlier, Ghana has already taken some steps to boost national entrepreneurship and innovation with the NEIP, which is set within the context of Ghana's long-term strategic vision of building an industry-driven economy. The NEIP includes an incubation and acceleration program, a business competition and support program, an industrialization plan, and a fund. The inclusion of space-based innovation concepts or the tailoring of the various programs toward space would help Ghana grow its space industry and develop the necessary capabilities.

An alternative path that Ghana could follow is to explore avenues of cooperation with the other African space nations to help cover Ghana's own weaknesses and mutually benefit from each nation's comparative advantage. Pan-Africanism has historically served as both a cultural and a political ideology for Africans and the people of African descent, and it has been at the core of Ghana's history, as seen with Ghana's first prime minister and president, Kwame Nkrumah's “Africa Must Unite,” published in 1963. Although the spirit of pan-Africanism led to the liberation of several African countries and the formation of ECOWAS, more can still be done and is being done currently. The Africa Agenda 2063 established in January 2015 in Addis Ababa by the Heads of State and the Government of the African Union set out a list of aspirations and goals for the continent. Among the written aspirations was a desire to pursue unity and collaboration between African nations, re-dedicating Africa toward an “integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens, representing a dynamic force in the international arena.”²³ As part of this commitment, in 2016, the African Union announced that it would be introducing a common passport to allow visa-free access across the continent to all African citizens by 2020.²⁴

In the spirit of this unity, African nations would be well served by coming together to develop the wider African space industry as a whole. Not only would this serve to further strengthen ties, the scientific knowledge gained, but also the capacity built would further help to propel Africa's space ambitions forward. This would also be in line with the Africa Agenda 2063, which also stated its desire to develop Africa into a “prosperous continent with the means and resources to drive its own development,” to push African countries to be “amongst the best performers in global quality of life measures,” to modernize and increase the productivity of African agriculture, and to develop “well educated and skilled citizens, underpinned by science, technology and innovation.”²³ The development and use of space technologies is well suited to address the goals of the Africa Agenda 2063, and is well suited to the economic and socioeconomic development of the local communities. Cooperation could be the key to achieving the goals set out in the African space policy.

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank all the experts (too numerous to name) who were involved in the validation survey for this article. Without their support and input, the construction of the model used would not have been possible. The author would also like to thank, in particular, members from the Ghanaian and African space industry, with whom the author was able to speak about the issues facing the African continent with regards to developing space capabilities.

Author Disclosure Statement

No competing financial interests exist.

Funding Information

No funding was received for this article.

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